“Erin?” Kendal asks.
“It’s fine!” Erin says. “It’s… more than I usually channel at once, but I can hold it until we’re clear of the storm.”
“Then what?” Tess snaps. “The overchannel lays you out for days?”
“You’re jumping to conclusions.”
“It’s the same conclusion every time!” she shouts. “You reach too far, you don’t listen, and you never believe it’ll go wrong until it blows up in your face!”
Erin glares at her. “I’m not that bedridden little boy anymore,” he growls, sweat trickling down his face, “and you’re not my father’s slave. Nobody’s forcing you to hold me back anymore!”
“What?” Tess asks in confusion.
Meanwhile, Alinua and Fast are talking direction.
“I think it’s brighter in this direction, but I’m not sure–” she starts. “Can anyone tell where the sun is?”
“Unless we got really turned around, it should be to the right,” Falst tells her. “But this far north it’ll be lower in the sky.”
Sitting beside the stairs, Dainix pauses, noticing something above. He looks up to see a bright white star gleaming in the hole that Erin has made in the clouds.
Yep. Yep that’s 800% the Champion.
I bet they’re thinking right now no way am I this lucky that that giant hole is where the Void Dragon’s vessel is. No way.
I’ve been working on writing a full book of it, but I’ve only gotten up to like Chap. 3 and I haven’t posted those. I do have one other page that I haven’t posted, a chapter or so back, but that’s cause I can’t think of a word for the face Dainix is making. You’re welcome to compile them into your own doc if you want! I should probably also post the first two chapters I’ve done, I’ll do that… sometime. The other pages that are missing in between parts where I’ve done them are just because I mostly forgot and haven’t done them yet. I’ll try to keep working on them over Red’s breaks.
Thank goodness I’m not the only one who thought of that! I hope we see more of this guy soo , I’ve been dying to know more about him for like 11 chapters or whatever. But that being said, right now would be a really, REALLY bad time for to intervene…
Unfortunately, that’s the way all too many people do talk to our family, to cover the hurt of having our abilities doubted. You always hurt the ones you love and all that.
“Well ok, I’ll track down the Elemental Magus, but it might take a bit. It’s not like he’s gonna throw up a six-element skybeam advertising his location.” –Michael, probably
Its probably a caching thing.
try appending ?asdf or similar to the url of the old comic to force getting an uncached version.
But you might need to change the string you append after the ? to get something no one else got.
But don’t use this too much, otherwise the cching setup red uses will be useless.
Ok Erin, you can handle all the elements at once, but can you also do that and have a healing discussion with your sister about abusive upbringing at the same time?
Therapy isn’t a secret 8th element its a combination of all the others, its what Adamant is made out of, the reason Walter can’t escape the core of the earth is because his past trauma is a litteral wall keeping him there.
“It’s fine! I can hold it until we’re clear of the storm,”
Erin insists, still shining.
“Then what? The overchannel lays you out for days?”
His sister asks, frustration showing.
I’m not that bedridden little boy anymore,
And you’re not my father’s slave.
Nobody’s forcing you out to hold me back anymore!”
Confused Tess watches him rave.
Alinua and Falst try to find the sun,
To steer by out of the storm.
Dainix sees a light in the ring of clouds above,
Like a star from there in form.
Oh dear, Erin’s touched a nerve.
He knows she’s completely correct, but his Hubris doesn’t let him acknowledge his own faults so he lashes out with the most hurtful thing he can think of against the one person trying to help and the one person who knows how to help.
Somehow, I get the feeling that the order for her to help him was taken more as permission than a demand, regardless of how it was intended.
On so many levels, too! I think that just getting him to stop over-channeling will do better than a smack upside the head, though, in this case. Being in a lot of pain/physical stress can frequently bring out the worst in a person, and this definitely looks like Erin’s worst!
Erin, are you perchance familiar with the phrase “Pride cometh before the fall” ?
Stop being an arrogant little arse who hits people where it hurts the most when they call you out on your BS.
Start working together with them. Stop being a saviour.
And for the love of the gods, be nice to your sister!
It isn’t arrogance, or hubris, not necessarily. Honestly I don’t think HE even believes that it’s a good idea. What this appears to be is a desperate attempt ro convince himself and others that he’s right, because Erin is scared of what happens if he isn’t.
I’d like to remind you that the current situation is: “Erin overchannels or everyone dies.” Tess is looking out for him, but she’s not actually providing an alternative to their imminent destruction. Of course, Erin is lashing out to push her away and that’s unnacceptable, but he’s currently being a self-sacrificial character, not an arrogant one.
Self-Sacrificial does not necessarily mean he isn’t also arrogant.
He believes that his way is the right way.
He believes he can fix all of their problems.
He believes that the others don’t need to have safeguards up if he’s there.
I am not just talking about this page when I call him arrogant, but everything before this, too. Erin has always been used to being the most competent person in the room. He is, afterall, “The Elemental Magus”. He constantly forgets that he is among equals, and in some cases people of far greater competence or capability than him.
He always tries to fix everything himself, and refuses help or collaboration.
It might show itself as self-sacrificial in this page. But it is absolutely also arrogance.
Okay so, judging by colour scheme, that’ll be the champion coming in. Currently, we know two things about him: 1. He really doesn’t like Voidy, and 2. He cares about protecting innocent people. The Question: will he place innocent people (the rest of the gang) in danger to kill Voidy, or will he work with Voidy to get the innocent people out of the storm.
I think part of the problem is they don’t expect the Elemental Magus to be on their side (and why would they? They’re usually classically trained, and that means they don’t believe the Paladins), so they’re coming in guns hot because they don’t think Erin would be smart enough to oppose the Void Dragon. But the thing is, of course he would, he lives here!
Based off the one scene we’ve seen the champion in, he shows empathy to the cave crawler who was corrupted by void magic. Although he does kill it, he doesn’t seem to take any pleasure in the killing, rather does so to protect the family. Thus, I am not sure how blazing his guns/ giant angelic sword will be if he can recognize that Erin is preventing a crewed ship from capsizing.
…The same crew that would be equally screwed if someone came along and maybe kidnapped the one guy who can charge the lacrimas, knows where they’re going and the potential dangers of Helm?
the worst part about relating to Erin so much is that i also relate to his flaws, and here we see another similarity between us: snapping HARSHLY at people we love when we’re mad. I swear Red, you’ve literally just put me into the story and given the me-insert a reason to be even more hubristic haha
Oh, Erin. I know you’re under tremendous stress right now, but Tess in no way deserves you lashing out like that – you know she’s right, and you know perfectly well she cares about you.
So for the love of everything, please put down the tremendous amount of childhood trauma you’ve got there and, when you’re out of this quite bad situation, apologise to your sister!
Using your sisters past as a slave to make them feel bad about being concerned about your well-being (and self-destructive hubris) is kind of a dick move Erin.
I get where Erin’s actions are coming from. Right now, this isn’t hubris. He’s not flaunting his power around because he can. This is *desperation*. He’s the only one equipped to deal with this situation (Tess can only deal with a small portion of it – the lightning). In his mind he HAS to push himself. He needs to save his friends and he needs to reach the monastery and get rid of Voidy. If he fails the squad will most likely be dead, the world would be in danger (I don’t believe Voidy would just let Erin drown) and it would all be his fault. The voyage was his idea. He knew the danger and he took the risk, took the responsibility. If someone gets hurt it’s on him.
He also feels the need to prove (to others too, but mostly to himself) that he CAN protect them. That he’s not that bedridden little boy anymore. He’s not HELPLESS anymore.
He shouldn’t have snapped at Tess, but I get why he did. As far as he’s concerned, he’s the only thing keeping them safe at the moment. He’s under a lot of stress, mentally and magically. Tess telling him to stop, despite her best intentions, is not really helping. 1. She’s making him split his focus. 2. She’s doubting his abilities (that’s where pride comes in) 3. She’s not offering any alternative solutions.
He souldn’t have pushed her away, but I understand why he did.
Yeah, it’s a tough situation when everyone keeps screaming at Erin to stop doing the one thing that’s actually keeping them alive. I can understand a certain level of frustration at this point, but he’s way out of line with Tess.
I’m pretty sure Tess is about to knock this elemental magus back to being a bedridden little boy in a second here before his powers burning out does it for him, and it is 100% entirely deserved.
Oof, he does get mean when he’s under extreme stress.
Erin, that is not how we speak to people, even when we’re holding back the entire natural world, blinding terror that oblivion personified is waiting for you to make a mistake, and what is evidently a lot of unresolved angst about being dependent on other people and feeling powerless for most of your childhood…which, given your age, is probably most of your life.
Also, if that IS a Paladin we see rocketing in, I feel like we’ve moved beyond even what the average person could predict might go wrong to “The Universe Actively Hates You”. Erin’s in no state to even begin trying to negotiate with the Paladins, and Walter certainly won’t pass up a chance where Erin can’t fight back…
I’ve figured out why Erin is channeling all 6 elements when they probably don’t need life magic. Elemental corruption is described as an imbalance between the elements in the soul. Channeling all 6 means there’s a balance. So while we thought opening all the soul-channels is overkill, it was actually a safety measure!
Am I the only one hearing “you can stop pretending to care about me” under that? Erin HAS to be able to fix this, he has to be *useful* enough, he led them into this mess so he has to back up his confidence — and she’s not letting him be The Elemental Magus when that’s the only thing about himself that Erin’s confident has value…
Tess is, of course, about to call him an idiot, if she’d only been pretending then he would’ve found out she was gone in the morning when everyone else did.
…Erin cares about her, but as far as he knows she would have the right to resent him, even hate him, for his part in what happened to her — she’s clearly been willing to work with him, but that might just be because of the Dragon… but he doesn’t *know*, one way or the other, and there’s hope in that.
counterpoint (although you are correct), Tess did leave before morning. But she did say goodbye first. Question. Have they actually spoken often as adults? Presumably she ran away after gaining her own free will, and at some point after Erin was stable enough for the title “elemental magus” to be applicable in the “usual” sense.
OH MY GOD IT’S HAPPENING everybody stay calm STAY FUCKING CALM
I am BEYOND excited for Wednesday. I don’t think he’ll arrive just yet, but that HAS to be the Champion, and I’m SO excited for him to be the perfect foil to Erin:
Erin, by coincidence or by design, became the Elemental Magus through no effort of his own, and has coasted by on his massive innate power and social status ever since (probably his entire life). The Champion, on the other hand, seems to only possess Light Magic, a skill that must be developed and forged through unknown means (I’m guessing meditation and spiritual work), and is a member of a religious order that Erin himself has described as fanatic idiots. Erin loves to show off and flaunt his fame; the Champion saves lives and leaves without even giving his name. Erin is motivated by self-preservation and pride; the Champion seems motivated by duty and the greater good.
Still, I’m pretty sure Erin is either about to faint, or Tess is going to knock him out (as she should), and the clouds are going to cover them before the Champion can close in.
She’s a giant metal woman armed with lightning. She wouldn’t NEED to hit him. A small shock would do.
Besides, we’ve never actually seen Tess angry before. Most of the time, she’s maintained this cool, calm, almost goofy persona. But she’s a complex character in her own right. If Kendal can break Falst’s arm and Dainix can try to kill Kendal, then Tess can hit her brother when he weaponises her childhood trauma of being bought as a household slave. She contains multitudes.
Erin has also saved many lives in Zuurith, cares deeply for his friends, and is currently trying to save the world.
Your reading of his character is highly uncharitable and inaccurate. He is flawed for sure, and acts self-important, but he is not at ALL acting solely out of self-interest and pride. Yes, he is smug. He also clearly has a deep-seated need to show everyone that he is good enough, and is currently shredding his soul to try to save everyone’s lives.
We know nothing at all about how he became the elemental magus, or how the Champion became the Champion. Alinua got HER power by accident, and so did every other mage in the world. Is that their fault?
TL;DR: you’re being mean to Erin in ways that are inaccurate and cruel. I understand that he may irritate you, especially right now, but he is a fundamentally good person who cares about others. Sorry for criticising you, I know it sucks when people do that on the internet. I hope you have a great day
In recent pages, I’ve become a staunch Erin apologist. I love him. He’s complex and flawed and often unpleasant, but he does have heroic traits as well (which you’ve mentioned). I wasn’t criticising him, I only meant to describe how opposite to the Champion he is. Sure, he’s had a lot of struggles, but his powers are seemingly innate, whereas we know that Paladins must forge a connection to the Lady before they can use her magic. And he does possess impressive social status, which we’ve seen him flaunt whenever he can (meeting Kendal, meeting Dr Jolon, Zuurith’s Embassy, The Archive etc.) which the Champion probably doesn’t have. And, again, his heroism is always accompanied by no small degree of showboating. Everyone, everywhere Erin goes, quickly learns he’s Erin Ruunaser AND he’s the Elemental Magus. We don’t even know the Champion’s name. We only call him ‘The Champion’ because of a few private psychic conversations.
What’s more important is that these characters seem VERY different on a surface level, since they’re being set up as adversaries. I doubt they’re going to sit down and discuss tragic backstories anytime soon, so they’ll behave like foils even if they’re very similar. To be fair, Erin is already a foil to multiple members of the group anyway (especially Falst and Alinua) even though they’re all undeniably heroic.
Oh! I’m terribly sorry, I really got heated there and it wasn’t justified. Sorry for the misunderstanding!
You’re totally right, they are opposites in a lot of ways, I’m super excited to see how their dynamic shakes out!
Your comments are fun to read 🙂 Have a wonderful day! I’ll try to not snap like that in future
Current List of things that have gone wrong in the last 5 minutes:
1. Big lightning storm
2. Volcanic fire rocks in the big lightning storm
3. Dainix having dry skin issues
4. Lacrima malfunction
5. Dragon god champion incoming in 3, 2, 1
RED YOU CANT DRAW SOMETHING LIKE PANEL 3 ERIN AND THEN ASK US TO BE RESPONSIBLE ABOUT IT HHJKJSSJSJ 😭 /j
the eyeessss though help this whole page is gorgeous
don’t worry about panel 3 erin i wasn’t planning to have the hots for “guy bringing up his sister’s slavery as cool retort in an argument so she’ll stop caring about his safety”
It’s very interesting, but I seem to have a different interpretation about Erin’s comment in panel 3 there than some other people here.
I took it as him admitting that some part of him believes Tess is only around him because of the whole slavery backstory and not because she *truly* cares about him? That line is him showing his insecurities, like “Look, you don’t have to pretend to care about me using too much power anymore because you’re not on Father’s orders to look out after me.” I wonder if Tess leaving right after she got her spark messed up Erin… like “oh, the second you are able to you want to leave, huh?” kind of thing. Probably intellectually he understands that she left because she had to find out who she was as a person, but emotionally? Erin is full of insecurities and really really wants to prove himself as capable and strong (probably because of that “bedridden little boy” childhood). I can see that coming out here as a too-mean “back off, you shouldn’t care about me because of everything my family did (and that I couldn’t stop), you don’t need to worry about me.”
…But I feel like the next couple of pages will provide more context for these lines based on how Tess reacts to them (because she really doesn’t strike me as someone who would just let this go…) so we shall see!
This was my take, so it’s nice to see I’m not alone in this.
Also… bedridden? Erin’s backstory just got a lot worse. Far sicker than I thought, and far lonelier. From his perspective, he didn’t have a sister, sibling banter notwithstanding.
Granted, his parents bought him a “sister” and she left the moment she had personal volition, so he does have some basis for that.
I agree that it is from a place of insecurity, especially because when fighting the glort Erin’s trauma flashback included the night Tess left. However, it doesn’t make what he said okay. As an older sibling, I would be crushed if my little brother told me he didn’t think I cared about him, or I was forced to care. Regardless of what our parents do that love shouldn’t be questioned, especially when used as justification for hurting ones self.
And the insecurity is probably very backed up by now, because, well. Erin seems to *need to be useful*. To prove that he’s not just a defenseless little boy, in his own words. And yet he has not actually improved *anything* since the story started. Seriously, you can count, every time Erin has managed to succeed at anything it’s only been managing to slightly reduce a problem that would not have happened if Erin wasn’t there in the first place.
(Honestly in some way I kinda respect Erin for keeping trying because to be perfectly if I’d had Erin’s string of total losses by now I’d probably just lay down and ask Kendal to cut off my head so at least the Dragon doesn’t escape as it is *obviously* going to do, given track record at anything I want to do)
And now here they are, in a mess that is, again, basically only happening because Erin is here, and he *needs* to get them out of it, or die trying.
That’s a really good point to raise and how I interpreted it too: that Erin thought Tess only held him back from overextending himself because she had no choice, and now that she’s free, why would she still feel obligated to take care of him? Agreed with everyone who said it’s a terrible thing to say, though.
I get it. He’s under an immense amount of stress. He sees no other way to protect everyone and doesn’t want to admit that he can’t. Being bedridden and helpless as a child must have been awful, and I can see why he would want to do everything in his power to distance himself from that kind of helplessness. He is a hubristic character, but that hubris is intrinsically tied to a deep shame and fear, I think.
However, to insinuate that Tess didn’t, and shouldn’t, truly care for him and try to protect him, when she so clearly does… That’s cruel. That disparages and disbelieves in the sibling bond Tess clearly believed they had… and Erin evidently believes they didn’t. Not really.
Plus, Tess might not interpret it so… well, as charitably as it can be interpreted. She might hear the even crueler interpretation instead: that in “holding him back,” she was a hindrance instead of a help, and in trying to protect him, she only got in his way. Again, I don’t think that’s what he meant. But I do wonder what Tess thinks he meant.
So, after reading a comment by Biblio, I went back and checked the page where Erin’s traumas were psychic-glorted, and sure enough there was a little image showing tess leaving out the window. What this means is that he isn’t just frustrated that Tess is doubting him, but believes on a fundamental level that she doesn’t really care about Erin, and is just trying to “hold him back”. Obviously that isn’t true, but insecurity and emotions are a complicated thing. Both of their heads are clouded by anger right now, which I predict will cause a few more nerves to be hit before Champion ground-pounds their ship.
Welp. That’s what happens when you purchase siblings for your kids. It seems convenient, it looks like they have normal sibling banter, but sometime down the road it’s all “you were purchased and only did your job.”
MICHLE ENTERS THE FRAY! I have been so hyped waiting for the champion to return. I wonder what all he can do. we know wings and we know blades. evidently others can heal and use similar utility magic, or they have access to magical items for that like everyone else.
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: you’re all gonna be responsible about Panel 3 Erin right
Image source: what
Tumblr text: Tensions are running a little high I see
I’m more concerned about panel 4 Erin, tbh. Yes, he’s not actually on panel, only his speech bubble is. But that’s precisely what I’m concerned about.
“Erin?” Kendal asks.
“It’s fine!” Erin says. “It’s… more than I usually channel at once, but I can hold it until we’re clear of the storm.”
“Then what?” Tess snaps. “The overchannel lays you out for days?”
“You’re jumping to conclusions.”
“It’s the same conclusion every time!” she shouts. “You reach too far, you don’t listen, and you never believe it’ll go wrong until it blows up in your face!”
Erin glares at her. “I’m not that bedridden little boy anymore,” he growls, sweat trickling down his face, “and you’re not my father’s slave. Nobody’s forcing you to hold me back anymore!”
“What?” Tess asks in confusion.
Meanwhile, Alinua and Fast are talking direction.
“I think it’s brighter in this direction, but I’m not sure–” she starts. “Can anyone tell where the sun is?”
“Unless we got really turned around, it should be to the right,” Falst tells her. “But this far north it’ll be lower in the sky.”
Sitting beside the stairs, Dainix pauses, noticing something above. He looks up to see a bright white star gleaming in the hole that Erin has made in the clouds.
Yep. Yep that’s 800% the Champion.
I bet they’re thinking right now no way am I this lucky that that giant hole is where the Void Dragon’s vessel is. No way.
Do you have a full ver of this
I’ve been working on writing a full book of it, but I’ve only gotten up to like Chap. 3 and I haven’t posted those. I do have one other page that I haven’t posted, a chapter or so back, but that’s cause I can’t think of a word for the face Dainix is making. You’re welcome to compile them into your own doc if you want! I should probably also post the first two chapters I’ve done, I’ll do that… sometime. The other pages that are missing in between parts where I’ve done them are just because I mostly forgot and haven’t done them yet. I’ll try to keep working on them over Red’s breaks.
Oh dear, is that the light paladin thing
With that color, it could be. Oh no, oh no
Oh… I thought he was seeing a star that might help them navigate…
If they think it’s the sun, it’s clearly not helping them navigate!
I thought it was the north star. The fact that it’s right above them indicates that they’re at the North Pole.
I kinda thought it was more of a “Sam seeing a star in Mordor’s sky” kind of situation. But if the sun’s up, then your explanation is more likely.
Thank goodness I’m not the only one who thought of that! I hope we see more of this guy soo , I’ve been dying to know more about him for like 11 chapters or whatever. But that being said, right now would be a really, REALLY bad time for to intervene…
goodness me a spelling error AND a grammar error in the same comment my self-esteem is RUINED
i meant “soon”, not “soo”, and “for him to”, not “for to”.
*comforting shoulder pat*
Erin… how about no? Just no. In general. To everything. Not how you talk to your sister or anyone trying to help you.
Also, Dainix to the rescue? Neat.
Unfortunately, that’s the way all too many people do talk to our family, to cover the hurt of having our abilities doubted. You always hurt the ones you love and all that.
“Well ok, I’ll track down the Elemental Magus, but it might take a bit. It’s not like he’s gonna throw up a six-element skybeam advertising his location.” –Michael, probably
This.
omg XD
I’m dying rn
And as we know, Erin can do anything without any consequences as he is, after all, The Elemental Magus.
Also I can’t click on the “next” arrow from 2.2.30 to find this page, I had to enter it into the url – is this a bug on my end or why is this?
Its probably a caching thing.
try appending ?asdf or similar to the url of the old comic to force getting an uncached version.
But you might need to change the string you append after the ? to get something no one else got.
But don’t use this too much, otherwise the cching setup red uses will be useless.
It happens sometimes when the release is recent
I’m fairly sure that part is just due to the cash not having the correct version of the page cached; it happens.
If it’s not there, just reload the tab.
If the arrows are there and just aren’t working, idk.
does… does Erin not fully understand that people can care about his well being?
His father really did a number on him
Ok Erin, you can handle all the elements at once, but can you also do that and have a healing discussion with your sister about abusive upbringing at the same time?
He can wield all six regular elements AND void, but let’s see if he can handle the secret eighth element: therapy.
Therapy isn’t a secret 8th element its a combination of all the others, its what Adamant is made out of, the reason Walter can’t escape the core of the earth is because his past trauma is a litteral wall keeping him there.
Panel 3 Erin 🙁
oof “bedridden little boy” “no ones forcing you to care about me”
hOLY SHIT is that who I think it is? PLEASE be the paladins pleasepleasePLEASE
Hmm things aren’t going badly enough, were’s wallter?
“Hey guys, I found where the sun is!” – Dainix before being dropkicked by the champion
Also, is anyone getting todoroki backstory vibes from erin and tess right now?
YES! The subtle hints have been going on for to long!!!
“It’s fine! I can hold it until we’re clear of the storm,”
Erin insists, still shining.
“Then what? The overchannel lays you out for days?”
His sister asks, frustration showing.
I’m not that bedridden little boy anymore,
And you’re not my father’s slave.
Nobody’s forcing you out to hold me back anymore!”
Confused Tess watches him rave.
Alinua and Falst try to find the sun,
To steer by out of the storm.
Dainix sees a light in the ring of clouds above,
Like a star from there in form.
Oh dear, Erin’s touched a nerve.
He knows she’s completely correct, but his Hubris doesn’t let him acknowledge his own faults so he lashes out with the most hurtful thing he can think of against the one person trying to help and the one person who knows how to help.
Somehow, I get the feeling that the order for her to help him was taken more as permission than a demand, regardless of how it was intended.
*gasp* panel 3 Erin
“you’re all gonna be—”
No. No I am -not-. Not in the tiniest bit. I need a fainting couch.
Dainix just here making a one-pull for Michael and it turns gold
Erin tells Tess: “You’re not forced to hold me back!”
Falst and Ali search for the course, Dainix a coming attack?
oh hey, I found the chapter theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaEXyQg7pCc&list=TLPQMTIwODIwMjR76jEhA527Tg&index=6
hoist up the thing by the longest johns
‘Trust me Im in control” really does sum up Erin’s attitude in this chapter, as well as in the comic as a whole
i was listening to this recently and thought the exact same thing! it really does fit quite well.
Omg. Yes. Amazing. (Also, I love this song!)
You can see the elemental fire burning in his eyes
Uh-oh.
UH-OH.
That last panel has me freaking out.
…
Is anyone available to smack Erin upside the head? Because he seriously needs to get his brain rattled to make it start F’ing working again.
That was a horrible thing for him to say.
On so many levels, too! I think that just getting him to stop over-channeling will do better than a smack upside the head, though, in this case. Being in a lot of pain/physical stress can frequently bring out the worst in a person, and this definitely looks like Erin’s worst!
Ohh. Oh dear. It seems the bweem did attract some attention. I had a feeling mire shoes would drop… Paladin time?
I wonder if they wind up crashing on Rakhn out of sheer directional confusion? Or fight complications.
ERIN NO D: Tess’s disbelieving “what?” is extremely appropriate here.
Wut is dat shiny thing in the last pannel?
Probably the paladin champion
Everyone in the comments descending to smack some sense into Erin.
Erin, are you perchance familiar with the phrase “Pride cometh before the fall” ?
Stop being an arrogant little arse who hits people where it hurts the most when they call you out on your BS.
Start working together with them. Stop being a saviour.
And for the love of the gods, be nice to your sister!
It isn’t arrogance, or hubris, not necessarily. Honestly I don’t think HE even believes that it’s a good idea. What this appears to be is a desperate attempt ro convince himself and others that he’s right, because Erin is scared of what happens if he isn’t.
I’d like to remind you that the current situation is: “Erin overchannels or everyone dies.” Tess is looking out for him, but she’s not actually providing an alternative to their imminent destruction. Of course, Erin is lashing out to push her away and that’s unnacceptable, but he’s currently being a self-sacrificial character, not an arrogant one.
Self-Sacrificial does not necessarily mean he isn’t also arrogant.
He believes that his way is the right way.
He believes he can fix all of their problems.
He believes that the others don’t need to have safeguards up if he’s there.
I am not just talking about this page when I call him arrogant, but everything before this, too. Erin has always been used to being the most competent person in the room. He is, afterall, “The Elemental Magus”. He constantly forgets that he is among equals, and in some cases people of far greater competence or capability than him.
He always tries to fix everything himself, and refuses help or collaboration.
It might show itself as self-sacrificial in this page. But it is absolutely also arrogance.
Okay so, judging by colour scheme, that’ll be the champion coming in. Currently, we know two things about him: 1. He really doesn’t like Voidy, and 2. He cares about protecting innocent people. The Question: will he place innocent people (the rest of the gang) in danger to kill Voidy, or will he work with Voidy to get the innocent people out of the storm.
Probably depends if the Void Dragon shows itself. I wouldn’t expect it to, though.
I think part of the problem is they don’t expect the Elemental Magus to be on their side (and why would they? They’re usually classically trained, and that means they don’t believe the Paladins), so they’re coming in guns hot because they don’t think Erin would be smart enough to oppose the Void Dragon. But the thing is, of course he would, he lives here!
Based off the one scene we’ve seen the champion in, he shows empathy to the cave crawler who was corrupted by void magic. Although he does kill it, he doesn’t seem to take any pleasure in the killing, rather does so to protect the family. Thus, I am not sure how blazing his guns/ giant angelic sword will be if he can recognize that Erin is preventing a crewed ship from capsizing.
…The same crew that would be equally screwed if someone came along and maybe kidnapped the one guy who can charge the lacrimas, knows where they’re going and the potential dangers of Helm?
Oh shi-
This can only turn out well /sarcastic
NO ERIN NO THAT’S TERRIBLE DON’T SAY THAT—
the worst part about relating to Erin so much is that i also relate to his flaws, and here we see another similarity between us: snapping HARSHLY at people we love when we’re mad. I swear Red, you’ve literally just put me into the story and given the me-insert a reason to be even more hubristic haha
VALSTRAX AMBUSH
AH AH AHHH AH AH AH AH AH AH AHHHHHH AHHHHHHH AH AH AH AH AH AHHHHHHHH
AH AH AHHH AH AH AH AH AH AH AHHHHHH AH AH AH AHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
AH AH AHHH AH AH AH AH AH AH AHHHHHH AHHHHHHH AH AH AH AH AH AHHHHHHHH
AH AH AHHH AH AH AH AH AH AH AHHHHHH AH AH AH AHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
But… the thing in the sky isn’t glowing red…
Eh, close enough, but you CANNOT tell me that’s not what’s about to happen.
TL;DR: Shut up and let me overexert myself in a heroic moment of pure badassery first, think later.
Oh, Erin. I know you’re under tremendous stress right now, but Tess in no way deserves you lashing out like that – you know she’s right, and you know perfectly well she cares about you.
So for the love of everything, please put down the tremendous amount of childhood trauma you’ve got there and, when you’re out of this quite bad situation, apologise to your sister!
I feel a theory of mine will soon be confirmed
Using your sisters past as a slave to make them feel bad about being concerned about your well-being (and self-destructive hubris) is kind of a dick move Erin.
I’m reminded of a previous conversation by Tess and Erin.
“Why am I so bad at keeping you safe?” “Because it’s not your call”
These are two siblings who may love each other but are both FAR too stubborn to ever actually listen to each other.
I get where Erin’s actions are coming from. Right now, this isn’t hubris. He’s not flaunting his power around because he can. This is *desperation*. He’s the only one equipped to deal with this situation (Tess can only deal with a small portion of it – the lightning). In his mind he HAS to push himself. He needs to save his friends and he needs to reach the monastery and get rid of Voidy. If he fails the squad will most likely be dead, the world would be in danger (I don’t believe Voidy would just let Erin drown) and it would all be his fault. The voyage was his idea. He knew the danger and he took the risk, took the responsibility. If someone gets hurt it’s on him.
He also feels the need to prove (to others too, but mostly to himself) that he CAN protect them. That he’s not that bedridden little boy anymore. He’s not HELPLESS anymore.
He shouldn’t have snapped at Tess, but I get why he did. As far as he’s concerned, he’s the only thing keeping them safe at the moment. He’s under a lot of stress, mentally and magically. Tess telling him to stop, despite her best intentions, is not really helping. 1. She’s making him split his focus. 2. She’s doubting his abilities (that’s where pride comes in) 3. She’s not offering any alternative solutions.
He souldn’t have pushed her away, but I understand why he did.
Yeah, it’s a tough situation when everyone keeps screaming at Erin to stop doing the one thing that’s actually keeping them alive. I can understand a certain level of frustration at this point, but he’s way out of line with Tess.
I’m pretty sure Tess is about to knock this elemental magus back to being a bedridden little boy in a second here before his powers burning out does it for him, and it is 100% entirely deserved.
I don’t she would do that
think*
NUCLEAR BOMB (Paladin champion) INCOMING
Wednesday can NOT come soon enough
GOD this is cool
Oof, he does get mean when he’s under extreme stress.
Erin, that is not how we speak to people, even when we’re holding back the entire natural world, blinding terror that oblivion personified is waiting for you to make a mistake, and what is evidently a lot of unresolved angst about being dependent on other people and feeling powerless for most of your childhood…which, given your age, is probably most of your life.
Also, if that IS a Paladin we see rocketing in, I feel like we’ve moved beyond even what the average person could predict might go wrong to “The Universe Actively Hates You”. Erin’s in no state to even begin trying to negotiate with the Paladins, and Walter certainly won’t pass up a chance where Erin can’t fight back…
Is Walter the Void Dragon? Why is he Walter?
I’m sorry I just got here
People just called him that before he had a name
I’ve figured out why Erin is channeling all 6 elements when they probably don’t need life magic. Elemental corruption is described as an imbalance between the elements in the soul. Channeling all 6 means there’s a balance. So while we thought opening all the soul-channels is overkill, it was actually a safety measure!
That’s a very interesting thought.
Am I the only one hearing “you can stop pretending to care about me” under that? Erin HAS to be able to fix this, he has to be *useful* enough, he led them into this mess so he has to back up his confidence — and she’s not letting him be The Elemental Magus when that’s the only thing about himself that Erin’s confident has value…
Tess is, of course, about to call him an idiot, if she’d only been pretending then he would’ve found out she was gone in the morning when everyone else did.
…Erin cares about her, but as far as he knows she would have the right to resent him, even hate him, for his part in what happened to her — she’s clearly been willing to work with him, but that might just be because of the Dragon… but he doesn’t *know*, one way or the other, and there’s hope in that.
counterpoint (although you are correct), Tess did leave before morning. But she did say goodbye first. Question. Have they actually spoken often as adults? Presumably she ran away after gaining her own free will, and at some point after Erin was stable enough for the title “elemental magus” to be applicable in the “usual” sense.
OH MY GOD IT’S HAPPENING everybody stay calm STAY FUCKING CALM
I am BEYOND excited for Wednesday. I don’t think he’ll arrive just yet, but that HAS to be the Champion, and I’m SO excited for him to be the perfect foil to Erin:
Erin, by coincidence or by design, became the Elemental Magus through no effort of his own, and has coasted by on his massive innate power and social status ever since (probably his entire life). The Champion, on the other hand, seems to only possess Light Magic, a skill that must be developed and forged through unknown means (I’m guessing meditation and spiritual work), and is a member of a religious order that Erin himself has described as fanatic idiots. Erin loves to show off and flaunt his fame; the Champion saves lives and leaves without even giving his name. Erin is motivated by self-preservation and pride; the Champion seems motivated by duty and the greater good.
Still, I’m pretty sure Erin is either about to faint, or Tess is going to knock him out (as she should), and the clouds are going to cover them before the Champion can close in.
She wouldn’t hit him
She’s a giant metal woman armed with lightning. She wouldn’t NEED to hit him. A small shock would do.
Besides, we’ve never actually seen Tess angry before. Most of the time, she’s maintained this cool, calm, almost goofy persona. But she’s a complex character in her own right. If Kendal can break Falst’s arm and Dainix can try to kill Kendal, then Tess can hit her brother when he weaponises her childhood trauma of being bought as a household slave. She contains multitudes.
I don’t thing she would do that either, especially with the dragon waiting for him to go unconcious
Also Dainix was having a major breakdown and Kendal is a very different person from Tess
Erin has also saved many lives in Zuurith, cares deeply for his friends, and is currently trying to save the world.
Your reading of his character is highly uncharitable and inaccurate. He is flawed for sure, and acts self-important, but he is not at ALL acting solely out of self-interest and pride. Yes, he is smug. He also clearly has a deep-seated need to show everyone that he is good enough, and is currently shredding his soul to try to save everyone’s lives.
We know nothing at all about how he became the elemental magus, or how the Champion became the Champion. Alinua got HER power by accident, and so did every other mage in the world. Is that their fault?
TL;DR: you’re being mean to Erin in ways that are inaccurate and cruel. I understand that he may irritate you, especially right now, but he is a fundamentally good person who cares about others. Sorry for criticising you, I know it sucks when people do that on the internet. I hope you have a great day
No, no, no! That’s not what I meant at all.
In recent pages, I’ve become a staunch Erin apologist. I love him. He’s complex and flawed and often unpleasant, but he does have heroic traits as well (which you’ve mentioned). I wasn’t criticising him, I only meant to describe how opposite to the Champion he is. Sure, he’s had a lot of struggles, but his powers are seemingly innate, whereas we know that Paladins must forge a connection to the Lady before they can use her magic. And he does possess impressive social status, which we’ve seen him flaunt whenever he can (meeting Kendal, meeting Dr Jolon, Zuurith’s Embassy, The Archive etc.) which the Champion probably doesn’t have. And, again, his heroism is always accompanied by no small degree of showboating. Everyone, everywhere Erin goes, quickly learns he’s Erin Ruunaser AND he’s the Elemental Magus. We don’t even know the Champion’s name. We only call him ‘The Champion’ because of a few private psychic conversations.
What’s more important is that these characters seem VERY different on a surface level, since they’re being set up as adversaries. I doubt they’re going to sit down and discuss tragic backstories anytime soon, so they’ll behave like foils even if they’re very similar. To be fair, Erin is already a foil to multiple members of the group anyway (especially Falst and Alinua) even though they’re all undeniably heroic.
Oh! I’m terribly sorry, I really got heated there and it wasn’t justified. Sorry for the misunderstanding!
You’re totally right, they are opposites in a lot of ways, I’m super excited to see how their dynamic shakes out!
Your comments are fun to read 🙂 Have a wonderful day! I’ll try to not snap like that in future
Nah, no problem. It’s enough to know that we’re on the same page about our arrogant but altogether benevolent idiot.
What does Dainix see that no one else has noticed yet? Why is Erin focusing on that Tess is holding him back now? What is the shadow Erin is fighting?
Current List of things that have gone wrong in the last 5 minutes:
1. Big lightning storm
2. Volcanic fire rocks in the big lightning storm
3. Dainix having dry skin issues
4. Lacrima malfunction
5. Dragon god champion incoming in 3, 2, 1
You forgot 0. Ominous portent about… oh fudge, the white dragon’s a woman
RED YOU CANT DRAW SOMETHING LIKE PANEL 3 ERIN AND THEN ASK US TO BE RESPONSIBLE ABOUT IT HHJKJSSJSJ 😭 /j
the eyeessss though help this whole page is gorgeous
Ughh I’m hearing a “no one is forcing you to care about me anymore” in Erin’s statement and it’s ending me
i’m sorry secret page note i’m not going to be responsible about panel 3 erin at all and i’m looking very disrespectfully
The glow in Erin’s eyes as he channels all six elements at once looks SO cool
don’t worry about panel 3 erin i wasn’t planning to have the hots for “guy bringing up his sister’s slavery as cool retort in an argument so she’ll stop caring about his safety”
Oh, I am 100% in your corner!
It’s very interesting, but I seem to have a different interpretation about Erin’s comment in panel 3 there than some other people here.
I took it as him admitting that some part of him believes Tess is only around him because of the whole slavery backstory and not because she *truly* cares about him? That line is him showing his insecurities, like “Look, you don’t have to pretend to care about me using too much power anymore because you’re not on Father’s orders to look out after me.” I wonder if Tess leaving right after she got her spark messed up Erin… like “oh, the second you are able to you want to leave, huh?” kind of thing. Probably intellectually he understands that she left because she had to find out who she was as a person, but emotionally? Erin is full of insecurities and really really wants to prove himself as capable and strong (probably because of that “bedridden little boy” childhood). I can see that coming out here as a too-mean “back off, you shouldn’t care about me because of everything my family did (and that I couldn’t stop), you don’t need to worry about me.”
…But I feel like the next couple of pages will provide more context for these lines based on how Tess reacts to them (because she really doesn’t strike me as someone who would just let this go…) so we shall see!
yep that sounds about right
This was my take, so it’s nice to see I’m not alone in this.
Also… bedridden? Erin’s backstory just got a lot worse. Far sicker than I thought, and far lonelier. From his perspective, he didn’t have a sister, sibling banter notwithstanding.
Granted, his parents bought him a “sister” and she left the moment she had personal volition, so he does have some basis for that.
I agree that it is from a place of insecurity, especially because when fighting the glort Erin’s trauma flashback included the night Tess left. However, it doesn’t make what he said okay. As an older sibling, I would be crushed if my little brother told me he didn’t think I cared about him, or I was forced to care. Regardless of what our parents do that love shouldn’t be questioned, especially when used as justification for hurting ones self.
And the insecurity is probably very backed up by now, because, well. Erin seems to *need to be useful*. To prove that he’s not just a defenseless little boy, in his own words. And yet he has not actually improved *anything* since the story started. Seriously, you can count, every time Erin has managed to succeed at anything it’s only been managing to slightly reduce a problem that would not have happened if Erin wasn’t there in the first place.
(Honestly in some way I kinda respect Erin for keeping trying because to be perfectly if I’d had Erin’s string of total losses by now I’d probably just lay down and ask Kendal to cut off my head so at least the Dragon doesn’t escape as it is *obviously* going to do, given track record at anything I want to do)
And now here they are, in a mess that is, again, basically only happening because Erin is here, and he *needs* to get them out of it, or die trying.
Yeah, that’s what I think. He’s not using it as gotcha – I mean it is rude and aweful but he really does think she’s pretending
That’s a really good point to raise and how I interpreted it too: that Erin thought Tess only held him back from overextending himself because she had no choice, and now that she’s free, why would she still feel obligated to take care of him? Agreed with everyone who said it’s a terrible thing to say, though.
I get it. He’s under an immense amount of stress. He sees no other way to protect everyone and doesn’t want to admit that he can’t. Being bedridden and helpless as a child must have been awful, and I can see why he would want to do everything in his power to distance himself from that kind of helplessness. He is a hubristic character, but that hubris is intrinsically tied to a deep shame and fear, I think.
However, to insinuate that Tess didn’t, and shouldn’t, truly care for him and try to protect him, when she so clearly does… That’s cruel. That disparages and disbelieves in the sibling bond Tess clearly believed they had… and Erin evidently believes they didn’t. Not really.
Plus, Tess might not interpret it so… well, as charitably as it can be interpreted. She might hear the even crueler interpretation instead: that in “holding him back,” she was a hindrance instead of a help, and in trying to protect him, she only got in his way. Again, I don’t think that’s what he meant. But I do wonder what Tess thinks he meant.
I guess we’ll find out soon!
wha oh
Dragon/Paladin finally showing up!?!
doctors recommend you. don’t do that
So, after reading a comment by Biblio, I went back and checked the page where Erin’s traumas were psychic-glorted, and sure enough there was a little image showing tess leaving out the window. What this means is that he isn’t just frustrated that Tess is doubting him, but believes on a fundamental level that she doesn’t really care about Erin, and is just trying to “hold him back”. Obviously that isn’t true, but insecurity and emotions are a complicated thing. Both of their heads are clouded by anger right now, which I predict will cause a few more nerves to be hit before Champion ground-pounds their ship.
Also I meant Bibbly Bio, sorry for the typo
No worries. I can’t take all the credit though since it was @Rai626 who pointed it out first.
Welp. That’s what happens when you purchase siblings for your kids. It seems convenient, it looks like they have normal sibling banter, but sometime down the road it’s all “you were purchased and only did your job.”
Who keeps giving Erin shovels!?
Erin: Nah, I’d win
Actually, that could be said of Erin on average once a chapter.
OHHHHH He doesn’t believe she really cares about him…… aaauuuuuuughhhhhhh ToT
MICHLE ENTERS THE FRAY! I have been so hyped waiting for the champion to return. I wonder what all he can do. we know wings and we know blades. evidently others can heal and use similar utility magic, or they have access to magical items for that like everyone else.
Words of old bonds hurt the most
Hold back no longer
Alone but with allies
Through the storm’s eye